This is because the Howard Ashman (book and lyrics) and Alan Menken (music) musical, based on a low-budget Roger Corman film, is a Faustian tale involving a lowly flower shop clerk (Seymour, played by Dan Clair) and the bloodthirsty plant (Audrey II, voiced by Jared Hoffert) that appears before Seymour during a solar eclipse. As the plant grows, it brings Seymour wealth, fame, respect, and love – his longtime boss, Mr. Mushnik (Mark Bernstein), adopts him, and co-worker Audrey (Amanda Burch) finally falls for him – but as the plant’s appetite for fresh human blood grows, Seymour has to make a choice.

Director Brodie H. Brockie gives his “Little Shop” production (running time: 2 hours and 15 minutes) a Technicolor twist, in that the opening scenes feature a black-and-white movie palette (gray flowers in the shop, gray walls, and black and white costumes); when the plant is introduced, so is a slightly broader spectrum of color, which widens as Audrey II thrives.

The conceit generally works, mirroring the way Seymour’s world opens up and becomes more colorful once the plant enters his life; and Brockie’s tech team pulls it off effectively (despite some distracting, unfortunate puckering on the set’s gray backdrop in the opening scenes). In addition, unique touches, like showing B-movie trailers before the show, and a behind-a-scrim ballet fantasy (performed by Lindsey Burch, choreographed by Cara Manor) that unfolds as Audrey sings “Somewhere That’s Green,” were charming surprises.

As Audrey’s sadistic dentist boyfriend Orin, Matthew Kurzyniec has an absolute ball chewing up the scenery, making “Dentist!” a production highlight. Burch makes Audrey a woman who’s as trapped in her tight dresses – watch her tiny-step walk across the stage – as she is in both her life and her abusive relationship. And the Urchins (Linzi Joy Bokor, Jennifer Burks, Lottie Prenevost), which stand in as “Little Shop”’s girl group doo-wop chorus, consistently bring a sense of fun, and some knockout vocals, to the stage. But Clair is the show’s emotional anchor, and he doesn’t disappoint; his Seymour is, appropriately, pathetic and sympathetic at the same time, making the character wholly human, and making his choice all the more difficult.

Thom Johnson designed the show’s lighting, which worked in concert with Cami Ross and Scott Fussey’s “black and white to color” set, and Lisa Gavan’s props, Kelly Fraser Greunke’s costumes. Matthew Steward designed the show’s sound, while Laura Swierzbin was the show’s music director.

On opening night, the balance seemed off during a prologue featuring Michael Joseph – I strugged to hear him over the music – and there were a couple of audio feedback issues; plus, the show’s orchestra hit some rough patches.

Plant designer Dave Hettmer – who had to create plant puppets for different stages of Audrey II’s growth – does a nice job visually, particularly with the smaller puppets; however, the larger the puppet, the harder it is to maneuver, so puppeteer Rob Roy inevitably had an awfully tough time syncing fully-grown Audrey II’s movements with Hoffert’s dialogue/lyrics on opening night.

Even so, Brockie’s “Little Shop” strikes just the right balance between darkness and light, horror and sweetness – and in the end, that may be the biggest challenge of all.